Hospitals are pretty much the same all over. I spent a week hovering over Dad at a big hospital in Albuquerque, and I’ve spent much more time hovering over Mom in a small town hospital in Roswell. To sum it up: understaffed, long waits, crappy food, the constant beeping of machines and tense people in waiting rooms awaiting word if their loved one made it or not.

Today was no different. The doctor that did my mom’s blood clot removal procedure yesterday came in at 8:40 a.m., said she looked great and that she was ready for discharge … once the hospitalist came in and gave the discharge order.

The hospitalist did not arrive until 4 p.m.

Grrrr. Make that double grrrr.

Once the hospitalist finally arrived, she stayed less than a minute, and then Mom’s discharge process began in earnest. But what a waste of a day, and Mom was eager to start back up rehab. The doctor that did her vein procedure said she was to get up and walk multiple times today, but that didn’t happen, and now she’s behind a day. I understand that the sickest patients have to be tended to first, but Mom occupied a bed for several hours that could have been used by someone that was really sick. (She was in ICU under observation for the night.)

Mom and I had plenty of time to talk and Mom wanted to discuss memories of Dad which was nice, but still, it’s so frustrating sitting around waiting for a doctor to pop in and give the thumbs up so that the patient can be discharged.